1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bale mover and more particularly to a bale mover which may be mounted on the three-point hitch of a tractor or on the forward end of a front end loader mounted on the tractor. More particularly, the bale mover of this invention enables a pair of bales to be moved by the bale mover. Even more particularly, the instant invention relates to a bale mover which enables a pair of bales to be placed on the ground in a side-by-side relationship without tearing or damaging the plastic net wrap on the bales.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of large, round bale handlers, movers or carriers have been previously provided. Some of the early bale movers utilized a bale spear or tooth which was operatively secured to the three-point pitch of a tractor or which was secured to the forward end of a front end loader mounted on the tractor. Assuming that the prior art bale tooth extended rearwardly from the tractor, the tractor operator would back up to a bale and drive the tooth into the bale. The tractor operator would then raise the three-point hitch of the tractor to raise the speared bale from the ground. The tractor operator would then drive to a remote location where the bale would be placed on the ground or stacked on other bales for subsequent storage, transport or consumption. As the size of farm tractors has grown, the bale movers have been modified to enable the bale movers to handle two large round bales in a side-by-side relationship. The bale moving operation has been made more difficult due to the change in the way the large round bales are bound to form the round bale.
Large round bales have traditionally been bound with twine. In recent years, large round bales have been bound with a plastic net wrap material. Although the net wrap material has some advantages over conventional twine, the net wrap material is somewhat more fragile than twine. The large round bales after being baled and wrapped with the plastic net wrap material, are transported from the field to a location for storage and/or consumption. In many cases, the bales are speared by teeth extending rearwardly from a frame mounted on the three-point hitch of a tractor or teeth extending forwardly from a frame mounted on the forward end of the boom arms of a front end loader. It has become popular to successively spear a pair of bales and transport the same to the storage and/or consumption area. Usually, a first bale is speared and lifted from the ground with the tractor then being driven to the location of a second bale. If the second bale is to be speared at the same height as the first bale, the first bale must be lowered into ground engagement and then pushed along the ground as the second bale is speared. The pushing of the first bale along the ground while the second bale is being speared frequently results in the net wrap on the first bale being damaged which causes the bale to disintegrate. To avoid the damage to the net wrap on the first bale as the second bale is being speared, the first bale will normally be supported above the ground and the second bale will be speared at a location in the bale which is higher than the spearing location of the first bale. The two bales are then raised by the three-point hitch of the tractor and then taken to the location for storage and/or consumption. If the second bale was speared in the same general location as the first bale, both bales may be placed on the ground at the same time with the teeth then being withdrawn. However, the normal procedure is to maintain the first bale above the ground during the spearing of the second bale to prevent damage to the first bale's net wrap material. At the time that those bales are to be deposited from the bale mover, the second bale will engage the ground first as the bale mover is lowered which means that the first bale will still be suspended above the ground. It is therefore extremely difficult to maneuver and drag the bales so that the bales will be arranged in a side-by-side relationship without damaging the net wrap. The above scenarios either results in the first bale net wrap being damaged as the second bale is being speared or the second bale net wrap is damaged as the bales are being deposited on the ground in a side-by-side relationship.